Chapters Chapter one: The end and the arrival
Master Chief crawled towards the HAVOC warhead, he grabbed it, primed it, closed his eyes and slammed the detonator. Oblivion awaited him. *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Master chief opened his eyes to find, much to his amazement that he was on his knees but still very much alive. He stood up quickly in one fluid moment that would have surprised anybody who had never seen the armored soldier move before.
"Cortana?" he asked out loud. He looked around the hardlight room that had similar markings to his A.I friend.
"Cortana, do you read?" he asked out loud, sounding much more worried this time.
"Cortana, come in" he spoke out loud before turning around. He turned around to see Cortana standing there in front of him, not her usual four inch size but at least 5.5 foot tall, she looked sad this concerned him, she walked towards him and all he could say was "How?..."
"Oh, i'm the strangest thing you've seen all day" Cortana replied sarcastically.
"But if we're here-" he said stopping himself.
"It worked. You did it. Just like you always do." said Cortana her voice straining slightly. Master Chief looked around once more and asked "So how do we get out of here?"
Cortana looked down at the floor, then looked chief straight in the eyes and said "I'm not coming with you this time."
"What?" questioned Chief.
"Most of me is down there" she said looking at the Didacts wrecked ship. "I only held enough back to get you off the ship..."
"No. That's not-! We go together" exclaimed the Chief.
"It's already done" Cortana replied sadly.
"I'am not leaving you here" the chiefs voice quivered when he said this.
"John" said Cortana. The use of his real name pained him, like an energy sword to the heart. She reached over and placed her hand on his armor.
"I've waited so long to do that" she sighed. Chief couldn't look her in the eyes when he said "It was my job to take care of you."
"We were supposed to take care of each other" Cortana replied. Chief looked her in the eye when she finished that sentence. "And we did".
"Cortana-please..." he pleaded. A single tear escaped his eyes inside his helmet. He couldn't bare to look at his friend. She started to back away slowly, he looked at her and choked
"Wait." She continued to back away never losing his gaze. All she said was
"Welcome home, John." And with that she disappeared from his life, the light room he was in faded and he was surrounded by the wreckage of the Didacts ship and wreckage from some UNSC ships. He just remained still, tears silently falling inside his helmet, the tears collected in the soft spongy material between his head and the metal of the helmet.
He had lost her, forever.
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When he regained enough of his senses he started wondering how long it would take a rescue team to find him in all this wreckage, when the armory section from a cruiser hit him from below. He turned around and grabbed hold of it, he climbed inside turning his helmets light on.
All he saw in the ruined armory was a weapon locker with various weapons in it including a sniper, an assault rifle, a spartan laser, a DMR and two magnums, he also saw another large locker, he floated over to it and opened it, inside he saw a PP-16979/AM-Sh charger for the spartan laser, twenty 45. caliber clips for the sniper, fifteen clips for the DMR, fifteen clips for the assault rifle, four clips for the magnums and emergency light sticks.
He grabbed a few of the light sticks and activated them flinging them around lighting up the room, he then closed the lockers after grabbing three more lights, he floated himself to the edge of the armory looking outside all he saw was the planet and some wreckage entering it's atmosphere, he knew that the armory was going to enter the atmosphere soon, so he floated back inside to the back of the room grabbing the emergency handrail, taking Cortana's chip out and holding it in his free hand, he looked at the small chip that had once housed his only friend. Placing it back inside his helmet, he then hoped to himself that he could hold onto it when he entered the atmosphere.
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With an echoing *BOOOOOOOM* the armory section started to spin wildly out of control, spinning this way and that he didn't know which way he was facing and the next thing he knew he was being blinded by the sun. The rapid uncontrollable spinning became to much for his body to take and he passed out.
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It was a cold winter's night when,
"Big sister, Tia, come see this" said Luna in an excited voice.
"What is it?" asked Celestia groggily as she was awoken, she got up and walked to her balcony with her sister. She was shocked and amazed to see the meteor shower, she looked up at the many falling objects with her sister. She saw a much larger object falling towards a large empty area of land about ten miles outside of Canterlot, she stared at the object as it made it's rapid descent towards the ground. It impacted with a echoing *BOOOOOOOM*.
"HUUUUUUUH sis, can we go see it, please, please, please, can we go see it" begged Luna. Practically taking off from excitement.
"Okay fine, I guess but we must be careful" Celestia said but Luna had already left flying as quickly as she could towards the crash site.
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The princesses arrived at the crash sight filled with awe at what they saw. They saw a large black-grey metal object half buried in the earth with a large, jagged opening at the end. Luna walked cautiously towards it, but her sister stopped her in her tracks.
"I'm not a filly, ugh, I can take care of myself, besides what if its like the other one from nearly five years ago" Luna said while she walked towards the metal object. She hovered slightly using her wings to get her into the object.
"Big sis come and see this!" exclaimed Luna.
"What is it?" asked Celestia As she landed behind her sister with a gentle thump.
"It's a Pegasus, at least I think it is" explained Luna her sister's jaw dropping as she saw a Pegasus embedded into the wall. The Pegasus was strange, not just because he was inside something that had fallen from orbit but because of his size, he was as big as Celestia herself and he was wearing what appeared to be a type of armor.
Master Chief awoke to a strange sight, two mythical creatures, surely he must be hallucinating he thought to himself. He attempted to move but his armor was still locked up from the impact, all he could do was wait.
One of the creatures walked up to him and he could now see clearly what appeared to be a midnight blue equine creature with a crescent moon on its flank. The creature stood on its back hooves, it was using its fore hooves to try and pry him from the wall, it was then his armor unlocked and he fell from the wall landing on top of the creature. It was stuck underneath him, he just groaned he still couldn't move something didn't feel right.
"Could you help me with it, sis, it's as heavy as it looks" exclaimed the blue creature. He lost control at this point he yelled
"YOU CAN TALK!" this shocked the two equine creatures.
"YOUR ALIVE!" they yelled in synchronous while Luna bolted for her sister.
"To my surprise, yes actually" said John while he tried to stand up, he only succeeded in landing on his ass.
"I guess my legs still aren't ready to stand yet" John said before he asked,
"We are the Alicorn princesses of the sun and the moon, I'm Celestia and this is my little sister, Luna", said Celestia calmly while motioning to her sister who nodded.
"HA if your an 'Alicorn' then i'm a unicorn" said John sarcastically, still sure he was hallucinating.
"Actually your a Pegasus" stated Luna.
"Wait what, no i'm not, i'm a human" John replied confused.
"Nope your definitely a Pegasus, not like the last one though he was a unicorn" explained Luna while she grabbed his wing and pulled it in front of his visor.
"Okay now this is the strangest thing I have seen all day" and with that Celestia's horn glowed gold with her magic and she said,
"What did you do that for?" asked Luna surprised.
"To stop him from freaking out" explained Celestia.
"What will we do with him?" asked Luna.
"I have no idea, but for now let's get him back to the castle, Luna can you carry him, i'm going to grab these lockers" Luna nodded in reply to her sister while she used her magic to lift John, Celestia then lifted the lockers with her magic and off they flew back to Canterlot.
"This is going to be hard to explain when he wakes up" explained Luna.
"I know but let's just focus on getting home first" stated Celestia.
The flight home was without incident, when they arrived back at the castle, Luna placed the Pegasus on her bed, while Celestia placed the lockers in a corner.
"How long before he wakes up?" asked Luna.
"I'm already awake", replied a gruff voice, "and you two have some explaining to do."
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"Okay we will answer any questions you might have, but in exchange you must answer a question of ours, seem fair" said Celestia.
"Okay fine. Alright, where am I right now?" asked John.
"Right now you are in Canterlot, which is the capitol of Equestria" Replied Celestia.
"What is your name?" asked Luna curiously.
"My name is John, I'm a master chief petty officer of the UNSC, I'm also a spartan" he explained,
"Okay, erm what are your names?" asked John.
"I'm Luna and this is my big sister Celestia, we are the Alicorn princesses of the sun and the moon" replied Luna motioning towards her sister and the marks on their flanks.
"Erm what is that your wearing?" asked Celestia staring at John's visor curiously.
"This is MJOLNIR MK-VI power armor, This suit in particular has seen me through a lot" replied John. He asked them.
"Why do you need a mirror?" asked Celestia while Luna used her magic to move her large mirror and place it in front of John.
"Because I need to see what I look like as a Pegasus" John replied sternly. He looked in the mirror and wasn't that shocked about his appearance as he thought he would be, he noticed that his power armor had changed to suit his new form, everything had changed all the way down to his shin guards. He looked at his hooves and placed them under his helmet, he closed his eyes and pushed his helmet off, as much as he hated having any of his armor off, this had to be done.
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It fell to the ground with a loud *THUMP*, he heard the sister's gasp with surprise, he opened his eyes slowly, he was greeted by the unfamiliar face of his equine form. His face still had all of the scars he had received from the fights he had been in over the years, other than these reminders his face had completely changed into an equines. His new face had the same deep teal coloured eyes he had since his augmentations, his coat was was just a plain white and his short mane was chestnut brown just like his hair had been. He just sat there for a minute taking it in before he asked
"I have no idea" replied Luna and Celestia in synchronous before silence fell upon the room once more, after what seemed like an eternity Luna asked
"I was a soldier but I don't think you would really have a need for a soldier" John replied sternly.
"True we may not need a soldier, Equestria hasn't been at war for over a thousand years, but we may have another use for you" explained Celestia.
"Ha what use could an old soldier like me possibly have, i'm new here, I have no idea how to fly and I have no other talents other than killing" stated John.
"I'm sure you have other talents, but first and foremost you should really learn to fly but who could teach you" said Celestia.
"I know who could teach him sis, Rainbow Dash, we could send Twilight a letter to ask her" said Luna excitedly.
"Rainbow Dash?" asked John.
"Rainbow Dash is an amazing flyer, but for her to teach you to fly you would have to go too Ponyville, but that can wait a while" explained Celestia.
"Where will I stay until then?" asked John.
"Oh you can stay with me" suggested Luna.
"I'm not s-" said Celestia but Luna cut her off.
"Don't worry it will be fine my bed has enough room for the both of us, besides I'm kinda tired and feel like a little hour or two, and besides all the other spare rooms are taken by the ambassador's for the summit."
"Okay I guess that's fine, but don't pester him, he's had a long night I'm sure" Celestia said with a yawn while she walked out of the room closing the door behind her.
_._._)(_._._
Luna turned around to see John struggling to get his armor off.
"Here let me help with that" she said while she used her magic to help remove his armor pieces, before long all that he had on was the black material suit he wore under his armor, he still didn't feel comfortable about having his armor off, without it he felt naked, but he felt strangely free, and suddenly very tired with it off.
"Thanks" John said with a yawn, while he looked at his equine form in the mirror.
"Come on, you look like you haven't slept in a week" said Luna while she helped him into her over sized bed.
"Closer to the truth than you realize" replied John, he couldn't remember the last time he had slept longer than an hour, his cryo sleep not qualifying. As soon as his back hit the mattress and his neck hit the pillow, he felt comfortable and sleepy, he had never slept in a bed this comfortable. He practically sank into the mattress and pillow, he felt Luna get in on her side of the bed and saying,
"Good night, Luna" he replied amused, he had never said that to anybody before. He drifted off to sleep.
Author's Note
I had fun writing this so I hope you all have fun reading it. Stay awesome my fellow bronies and pegasisters.
Chapter two: The departure
Over the course of the week he stayed with Celestia and Luna, he learned more about the ponies way of life, he learned to use his new hooves effectively, he had also gotten to know Luna more. And one of the days they walked around the castle for quite a while before John discovered that they had a gym for the guards, he immediately asked Luna if he could go on some of the weight machines.
She told him it was fine, so he went onto the bench press and put it up to the maximum weight of 160 kilos after he did so, the small number of guards in the gym gathered round, curious they started to take bets on if he could do it or not needless to say he took them up on the bet, to the guards surprise he did one press like it was nothing so he tried using one fore leg but still it was to easy he asked if they had any higher weights but they didn't, so he done a few more presses before he stood up, the guards marveled at his strength, one of them, Flash Sentry challenged him to a round in the ring.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea, considering I'am double your size" John replied.
"What do you think your gonna win, you may be strong but are you fast" Flash Sentry replied before continuing, "I'm the fastest punch in all of the guard, I reckon I could beat you in less than a minute." The guards looked at John, eagerly awaiting his response but he was already in the ring waiting for Flash Sentry to arrive.
"Okay some rules, no flying, no kicking and no breaking each others bones!" one of the guards yelled. John nearly laughed, at the thought of Flash trying to break his reinforced bones. Flash entered the ring and the guards again started taking bets on the fight, Luna looked at John with concern on her face, he noticed this and it distracted him long enough for Flash to land a left hook, John immediately turned to face Flash who was grinning immensely.
John got into a position waiting for his opponent to strike, he didn't have to wait long, Flash may have been quick but John had something he didn't, apart from the strength he had, he also had incredible agility for his size, so when Flash was about to land another blow he deftly sidestepped him and landed a punch so hard it knocked Flash Sentry out and two of his teeth clear of the ring. The guards faces looked up at John, in his black over suit he looked intimidating enough, but it was the way he just walked up to Flash and picked him of the floor with ease and carried him to the castles doctor that unnerved them the most, they had never seen another pony with that much power. Luna exited the gym meeting John after he had placed Flash Sentry in the doctors office when she asked,
"That, oh that was my weakest hit, if I had hit him hard enough he wouldn't be alive right now" John replied, this made Luna stop for a minute before she asked,
"I have killed and crippled people before with my bare hands before I came here, but I don't ever plan to do that again. As for how hard I can hit" he looked around the hallway, he noticed a shield lying in a corner, he walked over to it he held it up and motioned to Luna.
"You really weren't kidding" said Luna stared, dumbfounded at the gaping hole left in the shield by her friend.
"Now you see, if I had punched Flash hard enough most of his head would have been over the guard, or every bone in his face would have been broken, either way he wouldn't be alive" explained John.
Luna said after a moment of trying to comprehend her friends immense physical capabilities."It's getting late, Celestia will be looking for me to raise the moon, I'll see you later in my room."
John walked to Luna's room alone but on the way he stopped on a balcony to watch her and her sister perform their duties, as he looked up at the sky he saw the sun setting and Luna raising the moon, he had never seen such an awe filling sight. He thought the way that Luna flew up pulling the moon with her magic was simply majestic, he was to busy staring at Luna raising the moon that he didn't notice Celestia walking onto the balcony next to him.
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"It is beautiful isn't it" this startled John slightly but before he could say anything Celestia continued, "By the way, Luna told me what you did to Flash Sentry and one of the guards shields, I must admit I find it slightly impressive that you hold such physical power. I saw Flash in the infirmary earlier he said it was fine, he just said he was being a bit of a hot head, don't worry his teeth have been fixed, so no harm done he said." But John hardly heard any of what Celestia had said, he was still to busy looking at Luna who had just finished raising the moon, when she had finished she flew towards her balcony and into her room, he followed her path across the sky.
"You admire her don't you?" asked Celestia.
"You could say that" he said in a tone that surprised even him. "Erm forget I said that please, but for now goodnight princess."
"John tonight is your last night here, you leave for Ponyville tomorrow, take this letter with you and deliver it to Twilight Sparkle in the Great oaks library, she'll help you with Rainbow Dash. Goodnight John" Celestia bade him farewell by placing her hoof on his shoulder for a few seconds before leaving him.
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He got up and walked to Luna's room sadly, he arrived at her door to hear her singing, but she wasn't singing a song of happiness she was singing her soliloquy, it was a sad and beautiful song, John was amazed by her voice, he didn't want her to stop so he just sat there listening at the door, he listened to every word tentatively until she stopped singing over five minutes later, he stopped himself after a moment and listened at the door again. Luna was crying and this saddened him, so he opened the door quietly and sneaked in, he sneaked to the other side of the room, as silent as a cat and sat next to Luna putting his left foreleg over her back, this startled her
"I've been outside for about five minutes, I was listening to you sing. It was beautiful song but I must know why is it so sad?" John replied.
"It's sad because, I thought of it when I was imprisoned on the moon, back when I was jealous of Tia and now I just like it, it reminds me of what I was, of what I never wish to become again" replied Luna.
"I have some bad news, I will be leaving for Ponyville tomorrow" John said his voice cracking slightly when he said it.
"Huh, I just had a thought. You will need a pony name, John doesn't make sense. To create a name for you we will need to find out your cutie mark" explained Luna while she wiped the tears from her eyes. John started to remove his black over suit, with relative ease, he had gotten better with his hooves.
"Huh, well that makes no sense" said Luna puzzled.
"What is it?" asked John.
"Well your cutie mark, it's just erm... odd to say the least" said Luna. John looked round to see what she was talking about, he was surprised to find himself looking at a jet black eagle, with arrow's in one talon and a lightning bolt in the other and underneath the insignia was his spartan number "Sierra 117", also in jet black. John looked at it for a while before he explained what it was
"Well that was unexpected, that's the insignia for the spartan's and my spartan number."
"Well this doesn't really help us figure a name out for you" replied Luna.
" Maybe, I could just call my self Sierra, yeah that seems alright, what do you think?" John said still unsure of himself.
"I don't really like it, I think you should just stick to John. John is nice enough" Luna replied in a cheerful tone. But John was hardly listening he was crawling into the bed, he wanted to stay here with Luna even if he knew he couldn't, he just didn't feel that comfortable around new people besides she had been nothing but kind and helpful to him since he had arrived and he didn't want to leave her. Luna walked over too him, she leaned over him and asked,
"What's wrong, John?"
"It's just, I don't want to go" he said his voice cracking as he told her. Luna's response was reaching over and place a hoof on his shoulder before she walked over to her side of the bed and got it. John had already fallen asleep when she had gotten comfortable, she thought he looked peaceful, but he was far from it he was having a nightmare of the fires of the Human-covenant war, all the lives he had failed to save, all the enemies he had killed, but most of all he dreamed of Cortana and how he had lost her. It was during a particularly sad dream about her that he felt a warm presence, he saw Luna and she said,
"You were having a nightmare, it was horrible, you just kept talking and saying you were sorry, but mostly you kept saying a name 'Cortana'. Who was she John, who was Cortana?
"Y-you were in my dream, how?" He asked confused.
"I can do that with my magic, it allows me to enter ponies dreams to protect them from a nightmare, but you never answered my question. Who is Cortana?" said Luna.
"Sh-sh-she was a friend, a close friend and I lost her recently, ha look at me big tough battle scarred soldier, on the edge of tears" said John with a sniffle.
"AWW, come here you" said Luna while she embraced John in a tight hug. John felt slightly awkward he had never really had a hug, but he decided that it felt good, so he allowed her to continue.
"Well think of this way John, you may have lost a friend, but she's in a better place now, besides you will make plenty of new friends here in Equestria after all, I'm glad to be one of them, the last pony did too" she explained.
"I'm sure that's true but I had known her for years, you could say she was in my head literally" said John while he held up the chip that had once housed his friend. "Wait the last pony?"
"Oh yeah you see, you weren't the first pony to land here, almost five years ago a section of a ship crashed here, much like yours except it crashed in a lake, Me and my sister broke the ship apart using our magic trying to find a survivor and after days of searching we came across a grey unicorn" she explained.
"Did the ship have a name written on it in big white letters?" asked John in disbelief.
"Yes actually, I believe it had 'Forward unto Dawn' written on the side. Why?" Luna said with a curious expression but John had lost her as soon as she had said the ships name. If that was here five years ago then, that meant he did survive.
"By any chance did this pony call himself the Arbiter?" Asked John.
"Yes I believe he did. Why friend of yours?" asked Luna. John leaned over and kissed Luna before he leaped from the bed and excitedly scrambled to try and put on his armor, he turned around to ask Luna for help, when he saw her red face and he realized what he had done.
"I'm so sorry Luna, erm it was just a spur of the moment thing" John tried to explain while Luna rose from her bed and leaped towards him pinning him to the ground with a strength that surprised him.
"How dare you!" she yelled before kissing him again.
"Um what was that?"John asked after she stopped.
"Erm... spur of the moment" Luna finally replied. She leaned into kiss him again but before she could Celestia opened the door,
"Lu-." Her voice cutting off as she saw her sister and John scramble to their hooves, she gave a little cough before she continued,
"Ugh, I guess I need to get ready then, Luna do you have anything I could pack my armor into?" John asked, looking around the room for a bag.
Celestia opened the door again with a fairly large saddle bag, and a black traveling cloak held in the light golden aura of her magic, she walked over and placed them on the bed before saying to John,
"I had these made especially for you, the cloak has been enchanted to be a light as a feather and water proof, the saddle bags are large enough to hold whatever you wish. I have placed a coin purse with two hundred bits inside, that should help you buy the necessities until you get a job." When she finished she turned and saw John picking up his armor and placing it neatly in one of the saddle bags along with the letter Celestia had given him last night, she looked at him for a minute before saying,
"Don't worry, John you'll be fine, Ponyville and the ponies that live there are very friendly, one you could say is almost to friendly."
"That's not what bothers me, it's just I feel like I'm still dreaming. I feel like just the other day I was floating in space mourning the loss of a friend, whereas now I don't know what to think" John replied with a sigh.
"One step at a time, John, first off let's make sure you learn how to fly first and then we can see about getting you home if that's what you wish. But for now let's just get you to Ponyville, come on the carriage is waiting" Celestia said in a kind but firm tone. John placed his traveling cloak over himself and his saddle bag over his back, then the trio walked down to the courtyard to the awaiting carriage, Celestia left after she said,
"And remember try and make some friends."
"Don't worry I'll try" he called after her. Luna pulled him into a gentle hug before he boarded the carriage and she said,
"I'll miss you John, promise you'll write to me, don't make a mare a promise you can't keep." He replied with a soft chuckle,
"Don't worry, Luna I promise i'll write to you when I can." He leaned off the carriage and gave her a small peck on the cheek, she blushed while he turned around facing towards the distant town he would soon be living in. And with that the carriage took off, it was being pulled rapidly by a team of five Pegasus, he guessed they would reach Ponyville in about an hour.
Roughly an hour later the carriage touched down in a field just outside Ponyville which was covered in a light snowfall, John thanked the Pegasus team for taking him this far but now he was on his own, in a completely new and unfamiliar territory. He thought of what he needed to do, firstly he needed to find great oaks library, secondly he needed a place to stay and a job, thirdly he needed to learn how to fly and lastly he needed to make some friends.
"This is going to be fun" he said trying to motivate himself. He started walking into the town, he was looking at the other ponies they were staring at him, he was much taller than them so he expected this, he just continued to wander around town trying to get a lay of the land, when he rounded a corner he bumped into a grey mare, causing her to drop her cello, time seemed to slow down as it fell, John dived down to grab it.
Author's Note
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyj9_YJCMUw&list=PLsJOxeYtTGVW6Ggm4M2_xsF8lFI8zL1iu - Luna's soliloquy
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTYQ9HslcJ6wfZ5R-ee0Y8LmMWRkR13rmoEdOo228n_1O5iFErK - John's cutie mark for those who don't know what the spartan insignia is
Chapter three: New faces and an old friend
John dived down to grab the cello as quickly as possible, he barely caught it before it hit the ground.
"Sorry miss... erm" John said, while he got up, holding the cello like a live grenade.
"Octavia, my name is Octavia and you are? she replied.
"John" he said awkwardly.
"Okay, John it's fine, no harm done, since my cello isn't broken. Would you mind helping me with it actually, I'm just back from a performance and I need to get it and my luggage back home" explained Octavia, motioning to her luggage, she did give thought to his unusual name but it was hardly anything, she had heard weirder names than his, you don't even want to know.
"Okay, that's fine I need to get to know the town better anyway" John replied. He walked over to the luggage after placing the cello on his back, the luggage was on a little cart, he got behind the cart and started to push it, testing it's weight, it wasn't that heavy. He walked up next to Octavia and said,
"Alright where to next?"
"Well we're going to my house so just follow me" she replied with a slight smile. She turned around to look at John, he had removed his hood, so she could see his face clearly even though he was much taller than herself, it was covered in scars but that wasn't what caught her attention, it was his deep teal eyes she was looking at, she always loved that colour, it was her favorite, most people thought it was pink because of her bow tie but no, it was teal. They continued walking towards Octavia's house, with John looking all around, remembering places like Sugarcube corner and the town hall in his mental map of Ponyville.
"It's quite cold out here, it doesn't bother most ponies here, but I prefer the spring, much more colourful and more full of life" Said Octavia, she was just trying to make a polite conversation with the gentlecolt who was carrying her bags, with seemingly no effort.
"I wouldn't know, I only just arrived here" John replied, his curiosity was being occupied by the many colourful ponies, they had many different colours ranging from dark reds to light greens, most of them carried about their routines and paid John no notice, but the few that did, just stared at him until he had moved out of sight.
"Oh, it's your first day in Ponyville is it, well don't worry I'm sure you be just fine, that's why I like it here, everypony was just so accepting and welcomed us like family, me and my roommate Vinyl moved here from Canterlot about four years ago and we have never looked back, the ponies are all so friendly to new ponies, one of them you might say is a bit... to friendly. So what brings you to Ponyville?" Octavia had to much curiosity not to ask, John simply stared at her for a second before he replied,
"Yes it's my first day in Ponyville, you could say in Equestria, but I explain that later" he stopped for a second before continuing, "I'm here to visit... an old friend."
The first part left her even more curious about the giant Pegasus, but she trusted that he would explain later if she asked, but an old friend now this was were her curiosity was about to get the better of her but they had arrived at Octavia's house on the other side of Ponyville, she looked at John and marveled at the fact that he did not seem the least bit tired after carrying her cello and her luggage from the train station, she had to ask she was to curious not too,
"How are you not tired? That stuff is heavy, even Big Macintosh was tired after the last time he carried it."
"I'm just strong is all, any way it was no trouble, after all I nearly broke your cello, so it was the least I could do" John replied.
"Well thank you, John. Maybe I'll see you around town sometime, have a good Hearths warming day and a great new year" Octavia replied a large smile on her face. John replied with a quick,
"You too, also do you know where the library is?"
"Oh yes the library, okay follow that road and take the second right" Octavia said with an elegant wave of her hoof as John started to walk in the direction she had indicated.
_._._._()_._._._
When John arrived at the library, he was dumbfounded to say the least. The library was inside a tree, oh the irony, but the tree didn't seem dead, in fact it seemed very much alive. He walked over to the door to see a little note, the note read,
Golden Oaks library is closed to the public until the end of the holiday season. Please knock if you have any mail to hand to us. Thank you for your patience, have a happy hearths warming day and a great new year. Twilight Sparkle, Spike and Thel 'Vadam.
John stood for what felt like ages, staring at that name. He had changed it, it used to have a double e at the end, thinking about all the memories that name held, most of them were memories of battle but there was one that stuck out from all the rest.
John sat in the cargo bay of the Covenant carrier 'The shadow of intent' he was watching the marines, ODST and the elites talking about what was to come, he would have went over and joined them, but he wasn't one for company also the ODST hated him, the marines revered him and the elites tolerated him, so instead he just sat there on a crate, sharpening his knife and cleaning his gun. His head felt unusually quiet, normally this wouldn't bother him, but he had to admit he missed Cortana, but as much as he missed her he had a mission.
"Spartan" said a voice nearby.
John looked up to see the Arbiter, his armor freshly polished and gleaming in the light of the hangar. It would have been an awe filling sight but John had seen it before and wasn't to fussed, well that and up until a few weeks ago, he would have shot the arbiter on principle.
"What is it Arbiter, is the mission starting? Or am I required on the command deck? asked John.
"No spartan, nothing of the sort, I simply wish to have a conversation, I believe in civility between seasoned warriors" replied the Arbiter, sitting down on the crate opposite him. The Arbiter had always struck John as a professional soldier after all, all the elites were but this, this struck him as unusual, the Arbiter had never tried to talk to him about anything apart from something related to a mission. John noticed the Arbiter was holding a bottle of orange-ish, brown-ish coloured liquid, and two glasses.
"What's in that bottle? Asked John his tiny bit of curiosity getting the better of him. The Arbiter, looked at the bottles faded label before looking at John with confusion,
"I do not know, all I can read of the label is the company name and the fact that's it's an alcohol, I may have been taught English but I was not taught all of it" he offered the bottle to John, who took it. He added, "I took it from the ship's trophy room, I heard that human alcohol is quite pleasant, so I desired a taste, I thought you might as well.
The only time John had ever consumed alcohol in his life was when he was eighteen, he was in a base on a planet long since destroyed by the fires of war with his team, and Fred the other spartan on his team had bought a bottle of whiskey from a soldier on the base, needless to say he didn't mind it. John looked at the bottle in his hand, it was a bottle of whiskey, he looked at the bottom of the bottle to see how old it was, it was made in 2014, that made it five hundred and thirty eight years old! It must have been a family heirloom or something to be that old. The Arbiter got his glasses ready waiting to try the alcohol.
"It's a whiskey, it's over five hundred years old and if the label is correct it was made in Scotland, so that means this is good whiskey, quite a find" John explained whilst he removed the cap with one hand and his helmet with the other and placing it on the crate. He quickly filled the small glasses and took one from the Arbiter, he raised the glass to his mouth and was about to down it when a gruff voice came in over the elite ships intercom,
"All troops report to your stations, we are about to arrive at the ARK, prepare for battle!"
"By the forerunners, every time" and with that the Arbiter and John quickly downed their whiskey and ran to their ships ready for the fight to come.
_._._._()_._._._
John was still reminiscing about that memory when a snowball whizzed past his head, disrupting his train of thought, he turned to see who had thrown it, when he spotted three little fillies he though nothing of it after all they were just kids. He stood there a moment longer before he raised his foreleg and gave the door three sharp knocks. The door opened and John looked confused, expecting to see a pony, instead he was greeted by a small purple dragon.
"What do you want? The library is closed for holidays" the small purple dragon stated with a loud yawn. John stared at the dragon for a minute, he probably would have been a little bit anxious about this but something in the back of his head was keeping him calm, maybe that's why magic didn't freak him out like it should have. The small purple dragon rubbed his bleary eyes to try and remove some of the sleep that was left in them, when he had finished he could see the tall Pegasus before him, all he could muster was,
"Whoa... You are tall."
John did what he usually did in awkward situations and remained silent for a bit, staring right at the small purple dragon, until finally he broke the awkward stare with,
"I'm looking for a miss Twilight Sparkle, I have a letter for her. Is she in?"
Spike was still staring at the tall Pegasus, he had never seen another pony this size, except princess Celestia, but he had mentioned his 'sister' by name and that got his attention.
"Twilight's not in right now but you can give me the letter I'll make sure she get's it later" he said rather quickly. John's reply was just as rehearsed as Spike's,
"I was told by Princess Celestia to give this letter, to nobody but Twilight and that's exactly what I'm going to do, so where is she?"
Don't you mean, 'nopony'... ugh fine, she's at Sweet Apple acres with Applejack and Rainbow, I think they are raising a barn or something, follow the road" said Spike, motioning with his stumpy arms the direction in which to go, "Now if you'll excuse me, I was sleeping."
And with that Spike closed the door, leaving John to walk to Sweet Apple acres.
_._._._()_._._._
John had arrived at Sweet Apple acres quicker than he expected, he had never seen an orchard this big, it seemed to stretch on for miles and miles, but he didn't have time to admire the scenery he was here for Twilight. He started walking down the path towards what looked to be a construction site, there was paint tins littered everywhere, piles of rope and beams of wood strewn randomly over the ground. He finally saw what he might have been looking for, there was four ponies sitting at an old table eating their lunch and drinking something hot, there was an orange pony who he assumed must be Applejack maybe the trio of apples on her flank gave it away, there was a cyan pony with a rainbow mane this clearly must be Rainbow Dash how obvious could you get, there was a large brick red pony with a white bandage around his back leg and lastly there was a purple alicorn who he assumed must be Twilight Sparkle, strange he never heard Celestia mention she was an alicorn. Applejack noticed him first and got up from her seat, the rest following suit.
"Howdy mister, what can I do fer ya today?" Applejack said calmly. The group of ponies around her looked slightly nervous, they never seen a pony this size except Celestia.
"I'm looking for Twilight, which I assume is you" John replied looking towards the purple alicorn. Twilight nodded in reply, John drew out the letter he felt her magic take hold of it and pull it towards her, she opened it and read it. After a minute she simply looked up at John confusion crossing her face before she finally said,
"Welcome to Ponyville John, I'm Twilight Sparkle, this is Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh. What can we do for you?"
John looked confused, he thought the letter had explained what he required, he just stared a moment before replying,
"I need to learn how to fly, a place to stay and a job. I thought Celestia would have explained this in the letter."
Before anypony could say anything Rainbow butted in,
"You need to learn how to fly huh, well I could teach you but you'll need to prove to me that your strong and quick, so first you'll hoof wrestle me and Applejack then you'll race us in a one hundred meter sprint, you win all three I'll teach you. Seem fair."
John looked at the cyan pony, he could tell she was an athlete her sleek body gave that away, he nodded agreeing to her terms. They walked over to the table where they had been sitting before and sat down, Applejack was up first for the hoof wrestle she took Johns hoof and readied herself waiting for the mark to start.
"GO!" Twilight yelled. Applejack instantly put all of her might into her hoof when she looked up at her hoof she was shocked to see that John's hadn't even moved at all, he sat there smiling at her as if this was expected, this annoyed her and she put all of her might into her hoof again but still his hoof refused to budge, for one last vain attempt she again put all of her might into her hoof but instead of meeting the usual resistance the back of her hoof met the table. She lowered her stetson to cover her shame, she had lost, to a stranger no less, she barely had time to get up before Rainbow was seated raring to prove that she was stronger.
"GO!" Twilight yelled again. Rainbow much like Applejack put all of her might into pushing John's hoof down, but again even she failed to make his hoof budge. John decided to end this one quicker, so he did what he did last time put a bit of effort in, the look on Rainbow's face as her hoof hit the table was priceless, her jaw practically hit the floor but instead of doing anything that involved defeat she simply said,
"Pure luck, now let's see how you handle a sprint, to make it easier on you I won't even use my wings."
So they got to the improvised starting line, which happened to be one of the apple tree rows that was one hundred meters long, they took their staring positions waiting for the mark, Twilight raised her horn and a loud bang was produced from it, time seemed to speed up at this point, everything happened so fast. Anypony looking at the race from a distance would have seen a cloak trail blur, a cyan blur and an orange blur, the cloak trail blur reaching the finish in exactly six seconds.
"Who the hay are you, Lucane Lightning Bolt!" exclaimed Rainbow as she reached the finish line at the exact same time as Applejack, nine seconds.
"I believe I won your little game, you have to teach me to fly" John said, his tone as flat as ever. Rainbow replied with a sigh,
"Fine, you won fair and square, meet me under my house at dawn tomorrow, don't be late."
And with that she flew off into the sky.
"Twilight I have nowhere to stay" John said looking at the purple mare as he did. Twilight stayed still for a moment thinking, she looked at Applejack who said,
"Ya can stay with us for a while I guess, also if yer lookin fer work, we'll need help with winter wrap up this year on account of Big Mac hurtin himself again."
It was settled, John would stay with the Apple family for the time being, he had a job and a roof over his head now he just wished he could talk to Luna.
Author's Note
Spot a reference leave it in the comments.
